Julexis Thanksgiving
by MairzyDotes2018
Summary: Written after the recent scenes, what happens next.
1. Chapter 1

Alexis sighed as she closed the front door at last. The last guest, the most annoying of them all had finally left the building.

Olivia Falconari or Fuckanari as she was less affectionately called had insisted on gift wrapping the leftovers of her cannoli, while trying to tell Alexis how to run a family gathering. After waltzing into Alexis' house like she owned the place, she'd thrown a tantrum or two, engaged in a round of her petty adolescent behavior and then had commandeered the thanksgiving dinner while delineating the perimeters of their so-called family. Never mind that she was the one who had fired the first shot of discord in what had been a pleasant and relatively peaceful gathering.

Towards the end of Olivia's long winded speech, Ava and Alexis glanced at each other and Ava gave Alexis' hand a little squeeze. She saw the glint in the other woman's eye which reminded her that Julian's younger sister had a homicidal streak.

So did Alexis. She just hid it better, welding it only when it was truly needed.

Thank god, Olivia had finally stopped gracing their presence as she called it, and sauntered off with baby Leo, the baby sound asleep with little interest in the antics of his mother. Alexis returned to the kitchen, thinking that this idea of hers to invite her boyfriend's ONS piece of ass had been as unpleasant as she'd anticipated. But at least she'd survived it minus a side of culinary shaming which bonded Olivia with the killer of her cousin.

Or so Olivia thought.

Ava was difficult to read. Even for a Cassadine bastard who'd grown up depending on her ability to read people for her own survival. She knew Ava viewed killing Connie as a necessity for her own mission, but killing her annoying cousin might yield her more pleasure.

Olivia's last words had been along the lines, "are you sure you can manage without me" and Alexis had silently willed her to fall off of a balcony of the penthouse suite at the MC.

The suite on the 14th floor, where in the previous incarnation of the MC, one Luis Alcazar had met his maker, with the masterful Sting crooning his final theme song.

Alexis wondered not for the first time why she hadn't just smacked the heifer's face. She was a Cassadine, a bastard one but still, a member of a family that had planned vendettas while the likes of Sonny, Olivia and other ilk had been serfs in the fields surrounding the ancient castle good only for enhancing its wealth.

Natasha wouldn't ever stand for a lowly peasant by and out of a long line of peasants to hijack her own holiday dinner and outline the perimeters of what their relationship was to be, one Alexis hadn't even asked for, and just sat in muted silence. She'd have put her in her place reminding her she was her guest and that she shouldn't let the door hit her ass on the way out.

Damn she missed Natasha.

There was nothing left to do in the kitchen because Olivia had tried to bark orders at Alexis' two daughters also descendants of royalty to do the chores. Kristina had told her where she could stuff her cannoli which was the worst she'd ever tasted and that she had held her son hostage to insinuate an invitation to her mother's holiday dinner and it had worked. Molly found her Kindle and took it to her bedroom on the other side of the house.

Alexis was proud of her daughters noticing that at the moment, they had the voice that she somehow lacked because it had been her first holiday party in her new house and she'd wanted it to go if not perfectly, at least be about family rather than petty one-upmanship.

The doorbell rang suddenly. Julian had gone out on an errand, probably happy to get away from a room to the gills with estrogen. Alexis wiped her hands on a towel after washing them and went to answer the door.

She saw her eldest daughter standing on the doorstep, dressed in her favorite uniform of black pants and a black leather jacket. This told her that Sam had spent time with Jason.

Her daughter looked a little hesitant, flipping a strand of her dark hair back over a shoulder.

"Hi…I didn't mean to disturb you Mom."

Alexis smiled and gestured for her to come inside.

"You're never a disturbance. That…just left the building."

Sam frowned as she walked inside the warmth of the living room heated by the remnants of burned logs in the fireplace. She looked at her mom after sitting down on the couch.

"Oh yeah…you had Olivia here…"

Alexis's mouth curved into a smile.

"And Ava…who decided to crash the party using her child to do as Kristina called it, emotionally blackmail herself into getting an invite."

Sam winced.

"That must have been…something…given that Ava killed Connie to keep Dad's secret…so how'd it go?"

Alexis sighed.

"Like recess period on an elementary school playground or at least from what I read, not having that experience myself…"

No, she'd been tutored in a windowless room somewhere in the depths of the servants' quarters by mostly Stefan since Helena hadn't wanted to invest any time or energy in educating the daughter of her husband's insipid mistress.

Sam leaned back in the sofa.

"Well Mom, it wasn't much better at the Q mansion. Tracy's ex, Paul managed to fry the electric grid and yet another ruined dinner…"

Alexis shrugged.

"It's a tradition over there or a bad cliché. I haven't decided but at least there's no culinary shaming over it."

"Culinary…shaming…?"

"Never mind…it's a long story and I'd rather not recall it. So Sam…you look like…"

Sam blurted it out.

"Yes the Qs ordered pizza but it was Jason who told them to do it. Mom, it's one of his memories that he remembered on his own."

Alexis heard the excitement in Sam's voice that tempered the heartbreak that she'd experience once she learned Jason was alive but he didn't remember anything about her. She put up a hand.

"That's good…honey but…you need to be careful how you proceed with this because I don't want you to be hurt. "

In the past Sam might have rolled her eyes at her mother's concern. So often the dialogue seemed to be about Alexis having a hidden agenda for keeping her and Jason apart but after he'd "died", the adversity she faced had matured her, so that she understood her mother had just wanted her to be happy and safe.

"Anyway Mom I had other news…It's about Helena…"

Alexis shook her head.

"I read about her death in the _New York Times_ and I don't believe it. Evil like her never dies, it just provides time for an intermission in the production of her miserable life, a chance for those she's tried to destroy to just breathe again…"

"Mom…she cursed us…"

Alexis' eyes narrowed and she leaned closer.

"Really? It'd been a while since she's done that. I mean cursing people was like breathing for her. It gave her miserable body life…in between cryogenic freezing."

Sam bit her lip.

"I did it…I told Helena that no one ever loved her…that even her husband had left her for my grandmother to get away from her…"

"Ouch Sam. But it's true. Mikkos in his own complicated, slightly sociopathic way did love your grandmother. I and my poor sister Kristina were living proof of that and unfortunately, homicidal impulses don't just lie on the Cassadine side of the family…"

"I told her she'd burn in hell and I'd dance on her grave…and I would for all the hurt and pain she's brought to our family…Luke and Laura's family…even Liz's."

Alexis knew that wasn't easy for her daughter to admit given her history with Liz. But Sam had a large enough heart to have compassion even for those she disliked when they were in pain.

A gift from her grandmother Kristin Bergman, who through her DNA muted some of the insanity and sociopathic personality that ran through her diabolical family like a curse. It had even proved that in her case, perhaps nature trumped nurture given the hell she'd endured at the hand of the Cassadine household while hiding in plain sight from her own true heritage.

Just like Laura Spencer's gentler genes had softened the harshness of Stavros, the offspring of two of the most warped individuals on the planet. Even Stefan had fought his war of good against evil inside his heart, not that it had done him much good in the end of his tragic existence.

"Mom….I meant it. I would dance on her grave…I will for what she did to the people I love and loved."

Alexis softened from her own reverie, seeing that Sam looked troubled by her own words.

"I feel the same way Sam…but mostly I feel that her death if it sticks this time means that Kristin prevailed against her in the end…because her children lived at least to adulthood and she's got three beautiful, smart and compassionate granddaughters not to mention the sweetest great-grandson in Danny…"

Sam nodded.

"Yeah…and what's left of her family line is Nikolas and Spencer, although her grandson is appealing to his darker nature…though Spencer's over his diva stage."

That news about Nikolas troubled Alexis because she'd seen it even though she hadn't for some reason had time and opportunity but she knew she'd have to talk with him soon. She'd heard rumors that there wasn't much of the Cassadine fortune left, that it'd been siphoned by Helena and Mikkos' sole surviving brother, Victor to fund their crazy attempts to reverse the permanence of death, at least as permanent as it proved to be.

Yes she was definitely going to have to have a talk with her nephew. His mother, Laura had fallen strangely silent after attempting tough love with him.

Bless her little heart, but Laura wasn't strong enough to handle a son sired by the likes of Stavros.

She wasn't a Cassadine.

* * *

Julian drove from the house to the store which was the focus of his errand. A light snow had started to fall, its flecks visible in the glow of the street lights. He'd enjoyed the first holiday he'd spent with his family in a few decades.

He found a parking spot in the lot near the deserted marina. It appeared even the criminals were spending the night elsewhere. He put on his pea coat and scarf and started walking towards the store.

Something stopped him. Someone he knew was there before he heard the melody of a female voice that caused him to turn around and look.

A woman stood near the edge of the docks and looked at him. She looked to be younger than him, in her early twenties at most. She wore a dress, and a thin sweater, her hair tucked underneath a hat.

"Excuse me…"

She smiled at him.

"You look like you're lost…"

He shook his head, wondering what led a stranger to say such a thing.

"I'm not lost. In fact, I had business down here not too long ago…"

She nodded.

"I know…one of the warehouses, which merely serve to hide illegal businesses behind so-called legitimate ones. Unfortunately, it doesn't work if the one criminal's enemy is out to get the other one…"

Julian felt confusion fill him. He didn't get what she was saying, didn't like the implication that she knew he was a criminal. He wasn't…and she must had read it on his face.

"The fact that my observation bothered you just means you're moving away from that dark and violent life."

His eyes sharpened.

"And what do you know about that life…my life…"

She chuckled.

"I just do but that's in the past…and I've moved on but I keep watch still over the town that I knew briefly and last…"

Now he was totally lost.

"What…?"

She removed her hat purposely, long hair the color of fire flowing over her shoulders, her green eyes pierced with interest and intelligence.

"I've come a long way and I have something to say to you…"


	2. Chapter 2

Sam had gone home and Alexis had gone to pour herself a glass of Vodka, because the three glasses of chardonnay she'd drunk to get her through this dinner just didn't cut it.

She decided instead to take the car out to the Floating Rib because she needed to get out of the house for a spell. After Sam had told her about the curse, Alexis had just rolled her eyes. She'd been cursed by that vindictive bitch since the day their paths had first crossed when she'd been a child. Nothing she could face now could eclipse what she'd gone through since the age of five when she'd witnessed her mother's throat getting slit in front of her, on her birthday. If she'd only done what her mother had told her to do, to hide in the barn with her baby sister, maybe their father would have whisked both of them in secrecy, sparing her from her horrific childhood. Kristina had inherited the same Cassadine DNA that she had but for her, nurture had won out leaving behind a warm, kind and vibrant young woman.

Helena had cursed her by stripping everyone she loved and who loved her away from her, including all those memories wrapped up in that life. So when Sam had told her of Helena's latest pronouncement, she had to struggle not to laugh.

Far from feeling the effects of any curse, Alexis felt relieved that her greatest tormenter was finally unable to outwit death.

Sam hadn't seemed concerned either. She'd retorted back to Helena, was that the best she could do? After all she had just heard the truth about what Helena had done to Jason's memories.

But then Sam wasn't afraid of anything. Alexis had grown up in a treacherous environment filled with snares and traps and thus afraid of everything. After all, Helena had nicknamed her the mouse.

A role Alexis played so well.

She hadn't taken too many chances solely for own happiness, not until she'd been a teenager, far away from the island that'd been her prison when she decided she wanted to live.

One rainy night in Hanover had changed her life forever. In one way or another it had marked every decision she had made since, everything she'd done had been trying to bury those memories until she'd succeeded. She'd surrendered that part of her heart so that she could survive and move on with her life. Then somehow it'd all come full circle not just through her reunion with the daughter she'd been forced to give up but with Sam's father as well.

Not even Helena could challenge Fate but she could test it. .

Alexis pulled into the parking lot and parked near the entrance. Mac was wiping down the counter. He stopped when he saw her approach.

"The chardonnay tonight? I got your favorite in the cellar."

She shook her head.

"Scotch on the Rocks…It's been one of those days…"

He filled her glass and served her. She sipped it tentatively then poured more down her throat.

"Thanksgiving?"

She nodded.

"That bad?"

She shrugged slightly.

"It's complicated…do you have any of those tapas that you work on when no one's looking?"

He smiled, obviously proud of his experimentation into Castilian cuisine in a barbecue joint.

"I'll see what I could find…."

She went to sit at one of the tables, looking around at the walls nearby where numerous photographs showcased the history of Jakes turned Floating Rib and the city which had the most illustrious of histories.

"Excuse me can I join you?"

Alexis looked up and noticed that a familiar face had entered in the room. Ava slithered up to her, no wait it wasn't Ava. The woman had icy blonde hair like her but stood taller, and was elegantly dressed. She sat down without being invited, holding a martini. The smell of her perfume clung in the air, reminding Alexis of cinnamon and jasmine.

Alexis shot her a look.

"Why'd you ask if you weren't going to wait for my answer?"

The woman shrugged.

"I just left a heavenly party. It's held only once a year to show those of us less privileged what we're missing if we don't live in that version of uptown…as if we could do anything to change that. Well what are you doing here? I'd thought you'd be home with your family…"

Alexis sipped her drink, wondering why this woman was making assumptions. But then that had the theme of her first holiday dinner party in her brand new house.

"I spent Thanksgiving with my family and some….guests…"

"Let me guess the family was invited and these…guests were not?"

Alexis frowned, nothing the interest in the woman's voice which seemed somewhat familiar though she knew they'd never met. Unless she'd forgotten.

"Excuse me, have we met? You just look familiar."

The woman chuckled.

"Oh no we haven't met. I haven't been here for years. I just thought I'd drop by and check the old haunt before heading back to where I do live."

"You don't sound too thrilled."

"It's not home, it'll never be home. It's just where I am living. But you don't look too thrilled. Was Thanksgiving that bad?"

Alexis shook her head.

"No Not at all. Not for the most part….I spent it with almost all of my family and then…"

The woman interjected.

"The uninvited guests, Ava Jerome and someone who might these days be called an insecure skank unworthy of the name which she'd been given."

"You mean Olivia?"

The other woman sneered.

"Ava's got her issues of course including abandonment but Olivia from Bensonhurst is simply pathetic. A waste of a perfectly good name. Pity that Ava missed a vital organ when she played sniper to take out that remorseless serial killer."

Alexis frowned. The women talked about the killing of another woman as if it meant nothing more. The next moment, she called an employee over to refill her martini in that same voice.

At that moment, Alexis suspected that the woman sitting across from her had taken a life or two. Then again, so had she and after the holiday she'd just spent she didn't feel like judging someone.

"How do you know all this not to mention that both of them were at my house for Thanksgiving?"

"I get around and word gets around. It's a small town in many ways. It was the last town that I remember although my memories are somewhat bittersweet…"

Alexis heard an edge in the woman's voice.

"So why did you return?"

The woman shrugged.

"I wanted to check in on my family…what's left of it. Most of my family's died but a few members have popped up. So I thought I'd check up on them…and I have to say I'm not pleased."

Alexis found her interest piqued but didn't know why. All she wanted was to exorcise certain portions of her Thanksgiving dinner, before heading back home.

"Why is that?"

The woman paused.

"I have this…brother who's been most difficult. Our father didn't want us to go into the family business for different reasons. For my brother, well he was daddy's favorite and he took measures to keep him away…with me, it was good old fashion sexism…he didn't want a daughter to succeed him and maybe even outdo him."

Alexis wasn't surprised that the woman across from her hit some glass ceiling that thwarted her efforts to take her father's place. Even if Alexis had been a legitimate heir to the Cassadine business, she would never have been chosen by Mikkos to groom as his replacement. The only way a woman could ever take a controlling interest in Cassadine Industries would have been to do like Helena did, marry into the family business and then manipulate its various players to get what she wanted. Helena had the right kind of talents to do just that. She had been Hera to Mikkos' Zeus after all.

The woman's voice softened.

"I had a little sister I didn't know about who was able to do what I couldn't…now she's in a partnership with a powerful man to seize control back from that underling who had been Frank Smith's errand boy…"

Alexis knew who she was talking about.

"You mean Sonny Corinthoes."

The woman spat some words out.

"I do but he's been knocked down by a greater enemy and he's going to lose everything, just like he took everything…but enough about that. It's ancient history…what about you? Are you going to let those interlopers at your dinner push you around in your own house?"

Alexis bit her lip. Yeah she hadn't enjoyed it at all. Ava and Olivia team tagging her over some insignificant lie, while she'd felt powerless to respond. She'd zipped her lips to keep the peace at a party, to make Julian happy, to make her daughters feel welcome…but her inner Natasha had raged. It had been her house, her first holiday with Julian and her daughters in ages and it had been ruined by the interlopers.

Not totally so because Julian had made such an effort to get to know the two daughters that weren't his even though Molly had given him such grief for months. When Molly had accepted Julian's hand while they'd been saying Grace at the table, it had meant everything and yet…

"Why did you let them hijack your dinner? Ava has her issues with growing up without her parents but Olivia…there's just no reason for a woman like that to live…"

Alexis narrowed her brows leaning forward.

"How do you know this…or dare I ask? As to why I just wanted a nice holiday dinner with my family…with Julian…with my daughters. I only invited Olivia because I knew it was the only way Julian would see his son…"

The woman clucked her tongue.

"Of course, Julian has a newborn son. To add to his collection of offspring namely a daughter and a son that he never knew existed. Whereas I have nothing left…"

Alexis detected more than a trace of bitterness in the woman's voice.

"Yes he and I share a daughter and he a son with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl. But he always wanted to raise a child from the cradle…he couldn't do that with Sam or Lucas and now he has a chance with Leo…"

The woman sipped her martini.

"I can't say much for Cheryl and this Olivia looks like a common tramp with a big mouth but you, you come from a family that's every bit as lined with brilliant and powerful sociopaths as mine. I'm familiar with the Cassadines. My father did business with him before he came to Pt. Charles."

"I didn't know. I don't know much about what my father did…he kept me away from all that. When he and his brothers plotted to freeze the world, I was in my senior year in high school trying to pick up the pieces of a painful era in my life."

Alexis didn't even want to try to remember what it'd been like to find out what Mikkos and his brothers had done, second hand in the newspapers. She'd been consumed with trying to forget that Mikkos had forced her to give away her newborn daughter. The child born of her one adventure while she'd been attending boarding school in New Hampshire, the daughter she'd held in her arms for mere seconds before the nurse had taken her away forever.

The woman seemed to notice that she'd been buried in some old memory.

"Okay Alexis, now that we've established that you're a Cassadine by more than blood what's it going to take to get your inner bitch back because you're going to need it for what lies ahead…"

Alexis just looked at her.

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

* * *

Julian felt the chill in the air and more than a hint of a severe snow storm, so he pulled his pea coat around him tighter. The woman in front of him seemed entirely unaware of the wintry weather. She seemed more focused on him than anything around her.

She unnerved him when not much did and he needed some answers to questions he didn't know to ask. So he did the obvious. Something he'd picked up having spent his earliest years working in journalism.

"What do you want to tell me?"

The young woman smiled which relaxed her features. She was really quite pretty, but more than that, she was effervescent. Damn if she didn't also look more than a little familiar. . .

"I know that you are involved with a woman named Alexis and her family…in fact you just celebrated Thanksgiving tonight…"

He felt taken aback. How in the hell did this stranger in front of him know this about him? Yet he didn't feel fear looking at her. He felt kinship and didn't understand why. Whether it was the soft timbre of her voice, or the way her eyes looked at him, revealing a mixture of emotions that appeared far too intimate to reveal to a stranger.

"I know that just like always, she put aside her own personal feelings to make those that she loves so much happy. I know that her guests took advantage of that and were most unkind to her. "

"How do you know…?"

"I just do….I keep an eye on those I care about… Alexis…her beautiful daughters…her nephew Nikolas who's reminding me too much of his grandmother right now…"

Julian drew a deep breath, processing what she said, exhaling slowly.

"So you're a relative of theirs?"

"You might say that….I was born with a powerful man as a father, and my mother…I was told I had both her eyes and her heart. I didn't know my family for the longest time…but when I finally met them they were my family as long as they could be."

Julian felt confused at what she was saying, and even more so why she was telling him all of this about herself. He knew she had some connection to Alexis but what? How did she know what had happened at the Thanksgiving dinner?

"So you know Alexis…and Sam…and Nikolas…"

He felt like his brain worked too slowly to piece information she gave him together to make any sense.

"I do…I know them well. I didn't know them very long…but I still keep watch over them. It's been so hard witnessing everything that's happened to them, and not being able to cross over and be there…for them."

Now Julian was very confused.

"You lived far away from them?"

Her body shrugged slightly.

"Very far away…but not far away enough to not know that the woman who brought all this misery on so many people is no longer alive. Helena Cassadine has drawn her last hateful breath."

Julian felt shocked. He had his own experiences through the years with Helena, mostly in passing. When he and Alexis had bumped into Helena while rescuing Luke at Miscavige Clinic, she had threatened Alexis or Natasha as she'd called her while calmly welding a knife. He'd stepped in between the two women intent on protecting Alexis though Helena hadn't been impressed.

Not much intimidated Alexis, but Helena clearly did and when he watched the two of them together, Alexis seemed to retreat into some place unreachable. She'd always had more than a hint of mystery, of some tragic circumstance in her life. He'd sensed that even when they'd met at that bar in Hanover years ago.

But hadn't Helena cheated death before at least once? After all, Alexis had told Helena that evil never died.

"So is she really dead? I myself have died more than once and it doesn't always stick."

She arched a brow.

"Yes I know but you were kept alive for a purpose to rediscover what you'd lost. Helena never improves with each reincarnation, but this might finally be her last."

Julian hoped so, so that Alexis could finally exhale, and stop looking over her shoulder for the woman who had murdered her mother and terrorized her for years. Maybe finally her nightmares would stop.

"Does Alexis know?"

The woman seemed to think about that.

"I think she knows now. You did publish it in your newspaper…"

Julian frowned.

"I wasn't there when that edition was published. I should have known. At least her nightmare at the hands of that woman is finally over…"

The woman shook her head, her eyes suddenly betraying sadness.

"Oh if that were true, but it's not. You see Helena left behind a parting gift before her passage…"

Alexis stared at the woman in front of her thinking she needed another scotch at this moment.

"I asked you a question. Why are you telling me I have to channel my 'inner bitch'? You don't even know me."

The woman smirked.

"No I don't. Our paths never crossed. But we both have at least one thing in common…"

* * *

Alexis sighed. This woman made no sense whatsoever but she acted as if she had vital information to pass onto her regardless. At first she had thought it was Ava and now she wished she were dealing with her, at least she was a known commodity if an annoying one.

"And what is that?"

The woman leaned back in her chair.

"We both have killed someone to protect ourselves...and we both got away with it…"


	3. Chapter 3

Alexis just stared at the woman at a loss for words.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

The woman sipped her martini and stared back at her.

"I know that you've taken more than one life to protect what's yours…not that I'm judging you because I did the same. I just waited too long to go after the one who would come after me."

Alexis didn't understand what this woman said to her and it'd been a long night. She'd had to play nice with two of the most insecure, petty women on the planet while not striking back at them. All that just to keep the peace at her first holiday celebration on her new house with her family. But then again she'd faced off against much worse, and now Helena was dead. She didn't know how to even begin to process that news. It'd have to wait because she just wanted some time away from all the craziness in her life to just breathe and relax for a while.

Not that the woman sitting across from her was making that easy. She didn't know what the hell she was talking about and why she had advised her to embrace her inner bitch.

"Why do you even care what I do? I don't even know you…what's your interest in all this?"

The woman smiled.

"It's true we don't know each other but I think we have some things in common. We're both intelligent and strong women who try to maintain a balance between light and darkness. Well, you do anyway. I never saw any lightness in my life."

Alexis didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't understand what this woman meant and why she was even talking to her. After all, she had enough to sift through in her own life. Her children needed her. Sam had incurred the wrath of Helena in the last few moments of that bitch's life and was struggling over the love of her life's failure to even remember her. Kristina…well she had said all the right things and certainly held her own with Ava but Alexis knew her middle child very well, and her intuition told her that Kristina was hiding something in her life. Molly had tried to pry some rather innocuous information about her college schedule and Kristina had blown her off.

That had not gone unnoticed.

Molly and Julian were making some inroads in their rocky relationship. Baby steps of course but when Molly had accepted Julian's hand during grace, it had meant everything to her mother.

Alexis knew without asking it'd meant a lot to Julian as well.

She didn't have time or energy to deal with this stranger's issues nor her enigmatic words. But she tried to be polite. Just like she'd tried her best to be with the two unwelcome additions to her Thanksgiving even she'd wanted to slap them.

"I'm sorry if that's the case. But I don't know what that has to do with me."

Abrupt perhaps but she was being honest. The woman didn't seem at all offended, but she leaned closer and stared straight at Alexis. Unnerving to say the least, along with that familiarity that Alexis felt when looking at her. She knew they'd never met but…she couldn't shake the belief that somehow they weren't exactly strangers.

"It doesn't…because our paths never crossed. It has to do with my father's business partner, Helena Cassadine. While my father's long been dead and buried, she still lived to wreak havoc."

Alexis frowned.

"How do you know her?"

"I didn't…but I do know that she's been a threat to so many people. I know that Julian was associated with her…through Luke Spencer. I also know that she's cursed the both of you along with Sam Morgan."

Alexis just stared at her in disbelief.

"How do you….."

The woman stared directly at her.

"I just do. I'm only telling you because I've seen you with Julian…and Sam. It's amazing that you reunited after all these years. I've never seen Julian…like he is when he's with you and his children. Maybe if I have…."

Alexis waited for her to finish but her voice trailed off, with just a trace of wistfulness.

"Julian saved my grandson's life.

The woman nodded.

"I know that too. He'd finally learned how to save a life rather than taking one. But then the man I see now isn't one I recognize."

Alexis pursed her lips.

"How do you know him?"

The woman waved her hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter how…what is done is done but it's become water under the bridge with time. I have had endless time to consider it, relive it and wonder what I…or he could have done differently."

Now Alexis was really confused…and she was already tired from the day's events. The woman just smiled somewhat indulgently.

"We all have that endless time coming to us…but first we have to die…"

* * *

Julian frowned at the woman in front of him, who seemed oblivious to the wintery bite of the wind which blew in from the marina.

"What parting gift? Did Helena do something, did she set something into motion?"

He felt unease because he had heard all the stories about Helena's reach which bordered on the supernatural according to some of the tales. Not that he believed much in what he couldn't see in front of him or rationalize but those who told the stories clearly believed them.

The woman's eyes grew serious.

"She cursed your daughter Sam…and everyone connected to her by blood. That includes you, Alexis and Danny. Sam hadn't meant it to happen. She was just so horrified at what Helena did to Jason."

Julian knew that Helena had brainwashed the man formerly known as Jake to do her bidding, including an order to assassinate his daughter. Not to mention carrying a bomb onto the Haunted Star to blow it up. That had catalyzed an unlikely alliance between him and Sonny, to protect their children.

"I don't believe in such things. It seems just by living is what gave her the power to curse people. Now that she's dead…those she persecuted and tormented can now live in peace. Including the people that I love."

The woman softened.

"Alexis didn't believe in curses either. She's very much rooted into what is logical and rational. I…I explored the more spiritual side of life. Lightness and darkness and the importance of balancing the two. She thought it was a bit crazy but she never held it against me."

Julian sighed.

"It sounds like you too were close."

The woman looked wistful at his words. He saw it on her face, all the experiences that she must have shared with Alexis. Something very intense had existed between them, but he sensed that at some point it had ended, and abruptly.

"We were…even though we had to share so much together in an all too brief period of time. I wouldn't take one moment of it back…even knowing the outcome…"

Julian didn't know how to respond to that, and the emotional blend of love, and joy tinged with sadness in her voice.

"I don't understand any of this. How you know everything you know…how you knew where to find me."

She didn't look concerned.

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that she needs you. Your daughter needs you. Whether or not you believe in Helena's curse, there's danger coming…"

Julian's body tensed at the certainty in her voice.

"What kind of danger?"

So many possibilities ran through his mind at that moment. Most of which blamed him for his lifestyle choices. Was it one of his old enemies or even business partners that might come after his family because he left the mob? Was it whoever had made it look like Julian was responsible for the attacks on Sonny?

The woman appeared to read his mind.

"It's not your past that's going to come back and haunt you…it's hers or rather both of yours."

"I don't understand. We don't have a history except for that one night in Hanover…"

The woman chuckled, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh there's so much you don't know…or remember. But somewhere inside Alexis, she remembers because I saw that every moment that we spent together. There were so many fragmented memories in her life. I was one of them after all."

Julian thought her words made no sense. He knew that Alexis had suppressed all the memories of her childhood the moment that Helena had slit her mother's throat in front of her. He also knew the price that exacted from her, when she'd finally spilled the whole account to him. It'd taken a couple Vodkas and some persuasion while they'd laid in each other's arms on the rug in front of a roaring fire at the old Lake House.

He had thought he had dysfunctional parents but his experiences paled next to hers.

That's why he could barely contain himself when Helena had so casually threatened Alexis at the Clinic while stroking her beloved knife with the memory of Kristen's blood still etched on it.

"Julian, Alexis has been through so much in her life even after she remembered where she'd really come from and her identity as a Cassadine. Watching her celebrate Thanksgiving with you, her daughters…and your son that she'll love and protect as if he were hers… Well, she had more than enough strength to deal with your all too desperate and snotty baby mama who was trying to hurt her and your piece of work sister who played along even though she views Alexis as a kindred spirit of sorts."

Julian sighed. He knew that Alexis had sacrificed a lot to make sure he had his son there with them to celebrate the holiday.

"I love her so much already but I love her even more tonight after watching how my sister and Olivia treated her."

The woman smirked.

"Really, to chastise my sister for catering a meal after she's passed all the harshest tests fate could throw at her. I mean I teased her over her propensity to live on microwaved popcorn but I always remembered she once saved my life."

Julian narrowed his eyes. This woman…and what she told him reminded him so much of someone he met only through another person's memories.

No, it couldn't be…

* * *

Alexis had two Scotches in her at this point and Mac had followed through and brought both women a tray of tapas that they both feasted on. The woman across from her raved about the flavor of them, saying they were the best she tasted since she'd spent a short stint living in a small flat in Seville. But she had talked about needing to die as if she had already done it. That made no sense, at least not in the world the way Alexis defined it.

The woman moaned after finishing the last bite of a tapa and stared at Alexis.

"I'm guessing that last comment I made confused you. Well it really should not. You'd be amazed at how your perspective changes after your life is over."

Alexis picked up another tapa. Mac had really outdone himself with this latest culinary experiment.

"How would you know that? I mean I've stared in the face more than once in my life and that changes perspective. I survived lung cancer when I didn't think I had a chance."

The woman nodded.

"Yes I know…and your husband at the time should have been drawn and quartered for how he treated you…not to mention all the people around you who made it all about them rather than supporting you…"

Alexis didn't need a reminder. She'd lived through it and it'd been one of the darkest periods of her life. Her ex Ric had written his own account of her experience with terminal cancer casting her as the villain and him as her victim even after she caught him screwing her eldest daughter on the living room rug.

"I survived it. I had two young girls to raise who needed me to survive and so I did…and I did build a relationship with Sam…even after that. But you seem to speak as someone who's experienced death."

The woman winced at the mention of the word.

"Let's just say some very bad decision making and more than a trace of ambition and greed in my part led to that. I've had…time to consider it. A lot of time."

"I see…"

Though Alexis didn't really understand it at all. She felt that a couple pieces of the puzzle were missing. The woman seemed to realize her confusion.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm not here to relate the story of my past. I'm here to warn you. Let's just say it's my good deed of the year. There's danger coming and…this time it's not Julian's fault."

"It's not his fault…so it's not related to his business?"

The woman shook her head.

"Julian was never about the business. He wanted to legitimize what his father was doing. It was very annoying to say the least but in the end, he stayed true to that…and yes he has his enemies but they're too focused elsewhere to come after him."

Alexis grew impatient.

"Meaning…"

The woman just sipped her drink and shrugged.

"It's not his past that's coming to bite you and everyone you love, it's yours…and I'm here to tell you how to deal with that…"


	4. Chapter 4

Alexis looked at the woman across from her, the one who had warned her that her life was in danger, her family's lives laid in the balance and yet she was just a stranger. How did she know what to tell her or was she running a con as her eldest daughter might say?

"I don't know if I understand what you're saying. My past is coming to haunt my family and not Julian's? How could you possibly know anything about my past?"

The woman held up one hand and used her index finger to run off each point, almost as if it were a list.

"Your mother was murdered in cold blood by the jealous wife of your father after she found out that he'd sired two children with your mother. Yes…you and your younger sister Kristina…."

Alexis froze at the mention of her sister's name which brought so much joy and so much pain all wrapped up with enough longing to last much more than one lifetime.

"Kristina…for all the good saving her life ended accomplishing…she came back into my life for a brief time before my own decisions got her killed."

The woman shook her head.

"Luis Alcazar, a scum of the earth style mobster if there ever was one, he killed her and you killed him. Whether accidently or for revenge it doesn't matter. Rubbing him out did the world a big favor."

"You don't sound like a fan of his…"

The woman flipped her hand dismissively.

"He was a passing thing…when all I thought about was money and power…when my father shunned my interest, I turned to…others in the business to help pave my way…"

Alexis' eyes widened.

"You…and Luis?"

"I'm not proud of it now that I've had plenty of time to think about it but I was a woman in a man's world and had to use men to get what I wanted…but you avenged your sister's death so that is something."

Alexis had paid such a heavy price for killing Luis. She'd lost her daughter and had to do unspeakable things to get her back. After all she set fire to the Dobson outfit and burned it when she no longer needed to continue that charade.

"I nearly lost everything…and it took so long to get it back. Murdering someone comes with a hefty price tag attached."

The woman chuckled.

"Don't I know it…I'm sure Julian does too. I was so mad at him for the longest time for some of his choices….but I've had a lot of time…and some help to come to terms with it."

Now Alexis felt totally lost.

"You were mad at Julian? I know as a mobster he killed people to further his business…and some of them might have been innocent victims."

The woman chuckled more.

"I wasn't one of his innocent victims…"

* * *

Julian couldn't believe the thought that had crossed his mind about the woman in front of him.

"You can't…be…"

She just smiled.

"Oh don't worry about who I am or am not. It's too distracting. You need to focus on what's coming…thanks to crazy Helena who had to have the last word even before she drew her last miserable breath. Oh, I'm sure somewhere someone's trying to reboot her once again but even if that person fails, her curse is still a threat…"

Julian scoffed.

"I don't believe in such things. They don't exist. Only those who surrender to such nonsense attribute every misfortune they experience in life to them."

The woman tilted her head.

"That may be…but Helena when she makes a curse, it's because she's got a plan and she wants to make grandiose pronouncements that she has a plot against you without giving it up."

Julian furrowed his brow. That made more sense. After all, he'd seen her in action more than once while he'd been chained to Luke for nearly two decades. He'd just had no idea that she'd been connected to the young boarding school girl he'd spent one night with in Hanover…if only he'd known .

"No you couldn't have stopped what Alexis faced while growing up inside the Cassadine castle. That was to be…nothing could have stopped it. It created the woman who became a formidable lawyer, has three wonderful daughters and a grandson not to mention a nephew who needs some tough love just about now."

Julian didn't find much comfort in her words. 35 years ago, he'd driven away from the young girl named Alex that he'd dropped off at her boarding school after their evening. One that remained etched permanently in his soul even before he knew they'd conceived their daughter in the back seat of his Camaro.

"If I knew, I never…"

She put up her hand to interrupt him.

"You had your own life to live, a path you had to take even if it seems the wrong one to get where you are now."

He sighed.

"So Helena had a plot that she centered the curse on…against Alexis…and our family…"

The woman nodded.

"Yes she did and that's because of a secret she held close to her for many years that bore fruition before her death…"

Alexis felt like there wasn't enough Scotch in the world to help her make sense of this entire encounter with this stranger…one who seemed to know a lot about Julian.

"Wait a minute…so you knew Julian back when he was a mobster…"

The woman chuckled again, humor being her chosen tool.

"You could say that…I made some choices back then I've had time to rethink and reflect upon…I bear him no ill will. Now I just want him and those he loves to be safe."

Alexis leaned forward, thinking about that next round of Scotch, but no, she had to be able to drive herself home back to Julian. She really missed him right now. Yeah she'd been annoyed at having to invite Olivia and having to allow Ava to crash their first holiday dinner together but despite their boorish behavior. But then that was just Olivia being the insecure immature mean girl that she always was when she realized she would never be any man's first choice in a woman.

She'd move on from that experience. After all she knew how complicated blended families could be. Olivia didn't have a clue nor did she care. She didn't know the meaning of sharing and compromising but Alexis did. That was why she bit her tongue rather than jumping on Olivia's bait. She just hoped that Christmas would be easier.

"So what of this danger? Helena's dead…and I'm not one to mourn her. But how can she hurt my family?"

The woman simply looked at her.

"She made that curse knowing that even if she were dead someone else out there could ensure that it came to pass…though with Helena it wasn't her first choice."

Alexis folded her arms.

"What the hell does that mean?"

The other woman didn't seem bothered by her challenge in the least.

"There's another…threat out there. I don't know much about the details but before she died, Helena stumbled onto an unpleasant truth. One that threatened her as much as it does you and your family but since she knew she was dying…"

Alexis finished her statement.

"She wasn't bothered in the least that this 'truth' might threaten me and my family…I don't know what that might have been…so little intimidated Helena…except…"

The woman arched her brows.

"Except what?"

Alexis fell silent for a moment. She remembered hearing second hand, not from Helena herself that there had been one member of the Cassadine family that had intimidated its matriarch. After all, Alexis and Kristina hadn't been the only bastard offspring of Mikkos out in the world. There had been at least one other.

"I think I know…but it can't be true. There's no proof of his existence."

The woman picked up one of the remaining tapas and bit into it.

"There doesn't have to be. I'm not here to espouse on the details of Helena's curse but simply to warn you because of your relationship to Julian and the family that you've built."

"I love him…and yes we do share family together…I know he cares for my other two daughters just like I love his two sons. I'll do anything to protect our family…"

The woman chuckled again.

"Yes you told him you'd do whatever it took to protect family when you faced off against him some time ago. You stood up to him and that took guts…"

Alexis remembered how that confrontation at the gallery had played out. She'd been shaken to the core to learn that Derek Wells the mild mannered media mogul who'd saved her grandson's life had been Julian Jerome, Sam's father. She'd been crushed to learn he'd used their grandson as a shield in his war against Sonny. He'd broken his daughter's heart then tried to defend his choice to her, by saying he had no choice. When she failed to see that line of reasoning, he'd tried to seduce her as he'd tried with Carly only…she'd steeled herself against him the moment his lips touched hers only he'd been the one to succumb to something much greater, the memories of the time they'd spent together several decades earlier.

"I did and I meant it. But I now know Julian feels the same as I do. It took us a long time to get where we are now."

"I know that. I think Helena knew that when you ran into her last year at that clinic. She never expected the two of you to find each other again."

Alexis looked down at her hands.

"I always suspected she played a role in my father's decision to take my daughter away from me and put her up for adoption…"

The woman softened.

"Perhaps…I always wanted a child of my own but it wasn't to be. I didn't have enough time and I was focused elsewhere…"

"So was I most of my life…until I got pregnant with my middle child…After having to give up Sam, I just wanted to bury any desire I ever had to have a child."

The woman narrowed her eyes.

"You have a family to protect. You and Julian and you need to do that…."

Alexis heard the emotion in the other woman's voice and she grew suspicious of her.

"Why are you even interested in what happens with Julian and our family?"

The woman paused for a long moment.

"Because I do…because I almost feel that it's my family too…"

* * *

Julian looked at the young woman.

"What secret?"

"I don't know all of it. Just that when she cursed your family, she did it because she knows something that you don't though Alexis might suspect."

Julian frowned.

"What would that be? She's only told me about her father, Helena and her two brothers."

Kristina smiled.

"Yes…her two brothers. Stavros inherited the worst traits of his two parents. But Stefan, he was a good man even though he had to fight some demons along the way."

"You sound like you know…"

Her face lit up and she truly was beautiful.

"I didn't know Stavros. But I did get to know Stefan and he really was Alexis' lifeline when she grew up on the island. But he's gone now."

Julian digested the information. Alexis had told him about growing up with Stefan as her only ally. She felt like she owed him this great debt only he'd been taken away from her and they'd become estranged.

"She regrets being at odds with him towards the end of his life."

The woman sighed.

"I know…and that wasn't her fault. But she blames herself anyway. She grew up in a household of psychotic sociopaths and never knew any love except for Stefan."

"I know…but they're all dead now. But if Helena has anything planned that has to do with any curse. I'm not about to let anything happen to Alexis…or our family certainly not after it took us so long to find each other."

"That makes me feel better that you feel that way. I just want her to be happy and you do make her happy…you gave up a huge part of yourself to build a family. You need to honor that…and that will pull you through any crisis."

Julian hoped so and he planned to follow through. His life had been empty and meaningless until his paths crossed with Alexis.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes…"

She seemed to approve of his commitment.

"That's good because it might just take everything you've got…"


	5. Chapter 5

Alexis nursed her next scotch knowing it'd be her last of the evening so she could drive herself back to the house. She hoped that Kristina would still be up because she really wanted to have a talk with her. Kristina had seemed happy enough but Alexis knew she was hiding something.

Molly would be buried in writing one of her novels or on the phone with TJ. And as for Sam, Alexis had a feeling her daughter might be needing that spare guestroom. Despite her feelings about Jason, her heart ached for her eldest. The past year had given Alexis so much more insight into her daughter's point of view when it came to why she'd loved Jason so much and why she stood by him when the rest of the world thought she was crazy.

As for Julian? She supposed he'd be back from his retreat and ready to face a household filled with strong Davis women again. She loved him so openly and fiercely it unnerved her at times. After all he'd put her through, all his dramas and his lifestyle, then him knocking up probably the most obnoxious woman on the planet outside of Carly.

Still…she wanted so much to make it all work. Julian. Her girls. Lucas and Leo. Somehow she would pull it all together.

The woman across from her didn't appear to be any hurry to leave, knocking back one martini after another. Yet she showed no signs of intoxication. She did look around the joint, nothing all the photographs on the walls near the entrance. Snapshots of its history and of the city's as well.

Alexis knew that it included photos of herself and her family as well. But it was the older photos that had always fascinated her. Those of the Quartermaines including an old wedding photo of Edward and his Lila. All their children. Luke and Laura Spencer and their children. Steve and Audrey Hardy. Jessie and Phil Brewer. Robert Scorpio and Anna. The late Duke Lavery and an assortment of others representing chapters of PC's rich history.

She knew that the Jeromes also were represented in the photos. Victor, his sons, and his daughter. Though Julian looked much different back then than he did now.

"You know Alexis…I do have a vested interest in your family because Julian's a part of it and so are his children and grandchild. I never thought I'd ever say that but like I said, I've had plenty of time to think about it."

Alexis leaned back in her chair.

"How do you know him?"

The woman waved her hand.

"Oh never mind about that. It's not important. You doing what you need to do to keep your family safe from Helena's curse, now that's what is important."

Alexis shook her head.

"Look Helena cursed me long ago when she killed my mother right in front of me and allowed me into her household as some made up distant cousin to make my life a living hell. To punish me and to punish my father while reminding him who was in charge."

The woman shrugged.

"Victor Jerome's crazy as a loon but while she was alive his wife wore the pants. Of course almost all of his children inherited the crazy gene all but Julian. Somehow he managed to stay grounded…most of the time."

Alexis knew that the man she knew did…but he'd definitely had his demons warring inside of him between wanting to be the son who made his father proud and wanting to be the man his new family needed him to be.

"He's had a lot on his plate since he came back. He had his orders and he intended to follow them. But he was also the man who saved my grandson's life and he agreed to do it before he even knew that."

The women sighed.

"That's what amazes me. That he actually stepped up to help save Danny's life and put his own agenda aside and at risk. That's not the Julian I knew except perhaps long ago…"

Alexis paused for a long moment.

"I knew Julian when he would have done anything for his family. He was much younger…looked much different and I didn't spend much time with him…but we talked about our families I do remember that. His father, the man who turned out to be my father weren't much different. Both alpha males whose desire for power and status bordered on the obsessive…and it wound up destroying them both in the end."

The woman nodded.

"Those twin obsessions destroyed more than those two men. Three of Victor's children were destroyed by them and Julian nearly became the fourth."

Alexis knew that. She'd read up on the man's history once she figured out that he might have sired Sam decades earlier. He had become someone so much different than the handsome kind man she'd met in that bar in Hanover, so much so she probably wouldn't have recognized him. The more complicated man she had met years later as Derek Wells had been just as conflicted but he'd been much more jaded as well.

The woman continued.

"Julian was always torn between doing the right thing which drove the rest of his family crazy and making his father proud."

Alexis knew that too. She remembered conversations they shared where Julian had confided to her about his love/hate relationship with his father. After all, she'd arrived home one frosty night and saw him sitting on her deck, waiting hours because something perhaps instinct had sent him to her to talk about his problems relating to his newly discovered and gay son. She had talked him off the edge and after that, he'd shared more of that part of his past with her.

And as soon as she trusted him more, she shared her own history with him.

"I can relate…not with the father part because I didn't know my uncle was my father until later but I had a half-brother who I thought was a cousin I wanted to be proud of me."

The woman smiled.

"Stefan Cassadine. I met him a time or two. Quite the charmer just more introverted than his brother Stavros."

Alexis couldn't argue with that. Stefan had been a tough teacher and she'd been eager for his praise but he'd saved her from what Helena had planned.

"I owe my life to him and so much more…I just wish we hadn't been so estranged when he died…"

"He wishes that too…."

That confused Alexis…what a strange statement for someone to make about a dead man.

"What?"

"What I mean is that I'm sure he wished that. Okay so he was the man who saved you from your family but Julian had someone who saved him from his own as well."

Alexis narrowed his eyes.

"Who was that?"

"You…."

* * *

Julian just looked at the woman in front of him, his own intuition telling him what had to be no matter how impossible.

"You're…."

The woman smiled widely.

"I know you love my sister. I've always known that…since before both of you knew it. I knew you two would meet up again despite Helena's wishes."

Julian felt flustered, confused all kinds of emotions rushing through him.

"How could you know? Did she tell you about what happened in Hanover?"

Kristina just looked at him affectionately.

"I do…now but back then all I knew was what she told me. One night we were doing some…meditation…something she didn't believe in but did only to make me happy…and she told me she had a daughter at 16 that Mikkos forced her to give up."

Julian frowned.

"But she doesn't remember much about what happened. She said she had too much to drink."

Kristina wagged a finger at him.

"Oh but you and I know differently. She had broken up with Ned at the point I reunited with her and she was probably pregnant with my namesake not long after…but when I asked her when she felt most loved…she didn't mention either of these men, she just started talking about what happened at that bar."

Julian thought, this doesn't make much sense. He and Alexis had discussed that fateful night that would separate them for years but ultimately draw them back together years later. But Alexis' memories of it were much sparser than Julian's.

"You have to understand Julian that her life was in turmoil. She'd gotten involved with Sonny, gotten pregnant and was terrified of him knowing the truth. She wanted to keep her child safe. Ned claimed it was his child…that hurt me a lot because I'd fallen in love with him…"

"You and Ned?"

She nodded.

"Yes, I know how unseemly that must sound, falling for my sister's boyfriend but it wasn't like that. I found out about her baby and I wanted her to tell Sonny the truth…but in the end, I understand why she kept silent. I mean…I died."

Julian just felt incredulous at this point, wondering how such a conversation could take place. He must be hallucinating it.

"You're not imagining me. After all why would you? Don't feel sorry for me. I got to spend a few months with my sister…and if death was a price to pay for that then I'd willingly pay it. But I wanted you to know in case you're wondering why Alexis didn't tear into Olivia for her lies even though she wanted to protect you…"

"She was the one who discovered the truth and gave me back my son. I will never forget that."

Kristina softened.

"I know…but you have to know how hard it is for her. You said over and over again that you wanted to raise one of your children from the start…and no matter what she said, that had to hurt because of what happened with Sam."

Julian sobered.

"I know. I didn't mean it that way. If I had it to do all over again, I'd give anything and everything I had to be able to raise my daughter…with Alexis."

"I believe you…but what's done is done and when you made that comment about your child with Olivia being a miracle…well that hurt her though she'd never admit it."

Julian narrowed his eyes.

"Why…what…how do you know?"

"I just do…You see my sister views Sam as the miracle, the fact that she survived and that they found each other years later….went through some incredibly difficult times but came out stronger."

"I didn't mean…"

Kristina smiled.

"I know you didn't…but my sister has to watch you raise a child from a one night stand and rhapsodize about it while she never got to raise her first born daughter…"

Julian ran his hand through his hair.

"That wasn't my fault…and I'd do anything to change the past."

"I know that and so does she but Sam's very bit a miracle as your son through a woman who frankly isn't anywhere near the caliber of my sister though I admit I'm biased."

Julian couldn't argue with that. Though both Sam and Leo had been conceived through one night stands, he viewed both women very, very differently. He would never get the two confused. One always told him the truth even when he didn't want to hear it and the other had done nothing but lie to him about his son.

"I know that…and it's a miracle that reunited us after all these years…despite the attempts to keep us apart."

"Yes it is…but things even miracles do happen for a reason and that reason will soon become very clear to you."

"I don't understand…"

She smiled as someone who was at peace with her place in the world.

"I know you don't now but you will…"

* * *

Alexis looked at her watch. Mac would be closing up the eatery soon and she'd have to head back home.

Not that she dreaded that but she'd needed some time and space away from her first holiday dinner with Julian and her daughters. Ava…and then the heifer who wouldn't shut up.

"I really should head back home. It's started to snow before I arrived here and I'm sure it's going to continue all night."

The woman shrugged.

"I never have to worry about snow and ice cold weather where I'm staying…probably its only selling point."

Alexis tilted her face, still puzzled at some of this woman's insights.

"You said that I saved Julian? I barely knew him but for one night that I remember fragments of…and which I can't be sure whether they're memories or wishful thinking in the years since."

"Oh your memories are real just like Julian's. When he came back from Dartmouth for Thanksgiving in 1979, he was a changed person. He challenged his father to legitimize his business….and not get wealthy off of contraband and a protection racket."

Alexis knit her brows.

"Duke…Duke Lavery told me that Julian wanted the family business to no longer deal in illegal practices."

The woman sneered.

"Duke Lavery…definitely not one of my favorite people but he…was right in the end. Pity he didn't remain true to that vision…until it was too late."

Alexis looked at her hands.

"Yes, Julian ordered his enforcer Carlos Rivera to kill him and he did that."

The woman shook her head.

"No he didn't…he might have planned a hit on Duke Lavery but there are pieces to that puzzle that haven't been found. There's another player involved…and that player has also crossed paths with the late Helena Cassadine."

Alexis knew that most of the villainous…actually all the villainous characters in Pt Charles had crossed paths, cut deals, schemed and carried out nefarious plans among each other. Nothing surprised her anymore, certainly when it came to the likes of Helena and Jerry Jacks in particular.

"I don't know about that. I do think that what happened with Duke resonated on Julian in ways he didn't anticipate."

The woman chuckled.

"It did and isn't that irony at its best? But Duke isn't what is important here, is that there's a threat out there…what brought you and Julian back together did so in anticipation of Helena's curse."

Alexis frowned, as she didn't buy into the idea that she and Julian were fated to meet up again after 34 years apart. It'd been random luck that their paths had crossed and he'd returned to town with his agenda just in time to save their grandson's life.

"You don't believe, but then you don't have to believe. I didn't back in the day but I do now since I was rousted out of spending years reflecting on how I lived my life…"

Alexis interjected.

"Your life…?"

The woman sipped her martini slowly while looking back at her.

"Yes…I'm here to warn you about what's coming next…."


	6. Chapter 6

Alexis leaned closer to the woman. The one who kept telling her that something dangerous was coming yet refused to dwell on anything like details.

"So what's this warning because I still don't know. What is coming next?"

The woman smiled indulgently, as she picked up the remaining tapa. Mac had outdone himself once again. Alexis' recommendation as one of his test subjects would be for him to add it to the menu.

"Alexis, Helena took some secrets to her grave if it's true that she's actually dead and the jury is out on that"

"She always had secrets…but even though she loathed me because I reminded her of Mikkos' betrayal, she had her other…priorities."

The woman licked her fingers after finishing her tapa.

"Yes she did. But she hadn't forgotten about you and your family. She never could do that. You're living proof that her husband never loved her. Sam knew that weakness she had and used it against her."

Sam had mentioned that to her and she knew her daughter had been right. After all, Helena had broken her sabbatical from Pt. Charles when she found out that Alexis…no Natasha had finally learned the truth about her heritage.

"If she's dead and Nikolas assures me she is…what can she do? Victor's also dead…his brothers including my father long dead…and as for Stavros and Stefan…"

She felt her throat tighten at the mention of her beloved brother who'd saved her life in so many ways.

The woman paused.

"There are other threats out there including from the Cassadines."

Alexis frowned.

"I don't know of any other Cassadines still alive…"

The woman stared at her for a long moment.

"Oh yes you do…."

* * *

Julian felt like he was missing something in this conversation with a young woman who was supposed to be dead.

Yet as amazing as that turned out to be, he still tried to figure out what she was trying to tell him.

"Excuse me, but…"

She smiled.

"You don't know what I mean but you will Julian. The two of you were separated from each other and the daughter you share for decades…and then you all found each other again."

Julian felt humbled whenever he tried to calculate the odds of him reuniting with Alexis and the daughter he never knew he had. Astronomical and yet it'd been his act of following his boss' marching orders to pursue their agenda in Pt. Charles after all these years that reunited them. He'd returned to his old haunt making sure he had no personal ties with anybody, so he could focus on what he had to do, That had all gone to hell in a hand basket once he'd bumped into his past at the Floating Rib when he'd been trying to get away from the chaos of his media operation.

After all, while sitting at a table sipping a beer, Julian had been trying to distance himself from everything that happened that day. Ava lecturing him on how to carry out their duel agendas against ELQ and Sonny Corinthoes. Connie arguing with him about the future of Crimson and him laying out the bottom line she hadn't wanted to cross. Olivia screeching in his face, calling him a mook and some young woman named Sam Morgan beseeching him to write a front page story in the dying rag he'd acquired to try to save her son. .

Unlike the other women Sam had unnerved him even before he knew she was his daughter. Especially when she ripped into him telling him that he must not know what it was like to have a child of his old, holding that child in his arms. He'd taken offense at her forwardness, how could he not? What had surprised him was his own defensiveness simply because he had always prided himself on his lack of emotional ties with other people that would only unnecessarily complicate his life.

He'd tried to rip back into her but she simply countered him, her sole focus had been on Danny and he proved no match for a mother's determination. He'd promised her that front page story mostly to get rid of her so he could sit down behind his desk and remind himself why he had returned back to his old haunt. Then Connie had given him the story he needed, and he bumped the story about Danny Morgan's bone marrow drive off the front page. Purely a business decision of course and aligned with his agenda or rather that of his boss.

After the edition had been approved and sent to the press, he'd decided he'd had enough for that day and he needed to go to the local drinking hole for a few beers and hopefully a good time.

Plenty of brew and the attention of an accommodating woman who didn't make demands of him, and he'd finish out his day on a high note. That had been the plan as he left the Metro Court.

But none of that prepared him for bumping into Sam's mother…

Kristina smiled at him.

"You know what they say about the best laid plans. But my sister and her eldest daughter proved too formidable for you and your plans."

Julian nodded.

"I know…I knew when I left the Floating Rib that I had let someone down who had depended on me to save a child's life. So I decided to do what I could do to make it up to Alexis…and Sam."

Kristina smiled.

"And the rest is history and I mean that in the best of ways. I mean you hit on my sister with the oldest lines in the book, she put you in your place, something I don't imagine a man like yourself would allow and you did the right thing and wound up saving my grand nephew's life."

Julian coughed.

"I did mean it when I told her she looked familiar to me."

Kristina chuckled.

"Of course…but if that wicked witch Helena had known what had transpired but she was preoccupied with the Luke who wasn't really Luke and then Jerry Jacks was running around obsessed with finding the cure to what ailed him."

Julian knew all about Jerry Jacks. He'd had dealings with the mercenary for hire before and regretted nearly all of them. That hadn't stopped him from helping him flee Pt. Charles when Jerry had fallen almost literally in his lap.

He regretted that decision too. Kristina sighed.

"Jerry's not done either. He's on this crazy obsession to help Helena on her mission to revive all of the Cassadines on ice. Helena's demise must have hit him hard."

Julian wondered about that. He knew not to trust Jerry and had warned Alexis not to either but she reminded him that she learned that tough lesson already.

Kristina appeared to read his thoughts.

"Jerry Jacks is dangerous though his hold on my sister has weakened but he's not the only danger out there…there is someone even worse and he's a Cassadine…"

* * *

Kristina paced the living room of her mother's new house, paying little attention to the flames crackling in the fireplace. She had been on eggshells since she'd returned to town for Thanksgiving. Molly had asked her questions about college life at that Ivy League school but she'd just tried to blow her younger sister off. Usually with Molly that wasn't an easy feat but then Molly had left the room to take a call from TJ.

God she'd gotten herself into a difficult situation…and it'd only be a matter of days, maybe several weeks before her mother was notified of what she had done. She finally just collapsed on the sofa, her mind still racing.

"Hey Kristina… "

She looked up and saw Molly entering the room.

"I thought you were on the phone with your boyfriend…"

Molly shrugged.

"He's been studying with some of his friends for exams. He needs to do well on them because he's thinking of pre-med."

Kristina's eyes widened.

"Oh…that's great. I just got off the phone with my dad. He's doing better and he's going to do his physical therapy."

Molly plopped herself on the sofa next to her sister.

"Mom still hasn't come back?"

Kristina shook her head.

"No…I think she's at the Floating Rib and Mac's giving her some of his best chardonnay trying to talk her down from tonight's dinner."

"Well if Julian hadn't…"

Kristina shot her sister a look.

"I know you don't like him but it's not him. God, between his sister and Olivia, I think she'd just had enough."

Molly couldn't deny that. Her only experience with Julian's younger sister had been almost two years earlier when Julian had deposited her in Ava's loft while he and Morgan went to deal with whatever was going down at the warehouse. Ava and she had almost a bonding moment because they were left hoping and waiting to see whether TJ and Morgan would walk away.

In her own way, Ava had made her feel a little better.

Olivia had been totally cool helping her and TJ out when they'd wanted to spend a romantic night at the MC. Even offering her best honeymoon suite on a discount and giving her some pointers on the necessity of TJ sheathing up with some latex…but then again clearly Olivia hadn't taken her own advice when knocking boots with Julian last New Year's Eve.

"Molly…I love Dante, he's my brother but his mother is just as trashy as her cousin…Connie or Kate or whoever the hell she was…"

"I know you don't like Olivia but…"

Kristina cut her off.

"We both know mom can't boil water…but we still love her anyway even if we tease her about it…Olivia was just being mean as if it meant our mother wasn't good enough in her own house."

Molly pursed her lips.

"She wasn't that bad…I mean she helped me and TJ out…"

Kristina shook her head.

"No she didn't…Molly. I mean what were you using as protection when you decided to hook up with TJ? Nothing…you were just hoping he'd slap on a condom and it'd be okay."

Molly frowned

"He was perfectly willing and Olivia gave us this really cool suite. It was perfect before Mom showed up with Julian as her wingman."

Kristina closed her eyes. She loved her little sister but Molly had always been a romantic, with really no clue about how the world worked.

"Molly seriously to trust a woman who had two kids by one night stands and obviously hasn't learned anything. You should have done what I did which was to go to Sam…"

Her younger sister bit her lip.

"I couldn't…Sam had so much going on with her and Silas…and his past."

Kristina just looked at her sister in frustration.

"So I hope you and TJ are being smarter now…and you're taking care of yourself and not just him."

Molly bit her lip.

"Well actually…."

A branch crackled outside and both sisters focused their attention on the window. Molly glanced at Kristina.

"Someone must be out there spying on us."

Kristina didn't feel so sure. The wind had picked up after that last unwelcome guest had left the house.

"I doubt it. It started to snow earlier…"

Molly wasn't deterred but then she never was when her imagination ran away with her.

"No, it could be someone outside…"

Kristina harrumphed.

"Okay then let's go take a look…"

* * *

Outside their house, a man stood beneath a tree, as the snow fell onto his trench coat. The wind had picked up too.

He'd be leaving soon but he had a phone call to make first.

"Hey, it's me. I have the subject's house under surveillance…but I think it's only the subject's two youngest daughters who are inside….So you are still dealing with that situation at the compound….yeah I heard the news but I don't believe it…."

Suddenly a woman dressed in black walked up to him. He just looked at her.

"Excuse me?"

She just looked directly at him.

"Okay who the hell are you?"

* * *

Alexis looked at the woman.

"What do you mean other Cassadines? There aren't any left if it's true that Helena's kicked the bucket."

The woman leaned closer.

"You don't believe that do you? I mean a guy like Mikkos Cassadine, rich and powerful and slightly psychotic. With a woman like Helena breaking his balls constantly, he would have had women on the side. Like your mother…"

Alexis bristled.

"He loved my mother…"

The woman waved her hand.

"Yeah whatever…but perhaps he did. He made sure your younger sister Kristina was whisked away to safety and he cut that deal with Helena to bring you into the household."

Alexis knew now that he'd done that to save her but so many times she really wished he hadn't, given that her childhood in the compound had been hellacious, something to endure and to ultimately survive.

"You know this…how?"

The woman chuckled.

"I just do…but Mikkos had other mistresses to help him forget that he was married to the ice queen. Your mother was his favorite…or so I've heard but he did have others…and like your mother at least one other got knocked up…"

Alexis had heard the rumors of Mikkos' other mistresses when he'd just been her distant uncle.

The woman continued.

"One of them had a son. That son was turned into an outcast like you only he wasn't raised in the compound. Helena wouldn't allow it."

Alexis froze.

"I know who you're talking about. But he's not real…he can't be real…"

The woman sipped her martini.

"Oh he is alive, he survived and he's out there…trying to reclaim what he's lost…"

"


End file.
